WVBR Top 93 of 2008

WVBR at 93.5 FM is a alternative/AAA/active rock hybrid out of Ithaca, NY Probably this is the quirkiest list yet, since many of the songs were included for the sole reason that the artist played Ithaca that year.

1. Lost- Coldplay
2. Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution -- Black Crowes
3. No Hiding Place -- Elvis Costello
4. Believe -- Staind
5. Come Around -- Counting Crows
6. New Vibration -- Collective Soul
7. Long Walk Home -- Bruce Springsteen
8. I'm Amazed -- My Morning Jacket
9. No Sunlight -- Death Cab For Cutie
10. Supernatural Superserious -- REM
11. Cheer Up Boys, Your Makeup Is Running -- Foo Fighters
12. Talking to the Walls -- Finger 11
13. Old Enough -- The Raconteurs
14. We Don't Have to Look Back Now --Puddle of Mudd
15. Rebel Road -- Edgar Winter
16. So Happy -- Theory of a Deadman
17. The Shock of the Lightning -- Oasis
18. Beautiful -- 10 Years
19. These Are the Days -- The Exies
20. Scare Easy -- Mudcrutch
21. Your Protector -- Fleet Foxes
22. Long Road to Ruin -- Foo Fighters
23. Get Out the Door -- Velvet Revolver
24. Wounded Bird -- Black Crowes
25. Viva La Vida -- Coldplay
26. Sex on Fire -- Kings of Leon
27. Jigsaw Falling Into Place -- Radiohead
28. Workin' Them Angels -- Rush
29. Bring the Light -- Smashing Pumpkins
30. Valerie Plame -- The Decembrists
31. C-Lebrity -- Queen feat. Paul Rogers
32. Detroit Waves -- Matt Nathanson
33. Gamma Ray -- Beck
34. Lover of the Bayou -- Mudcrutch
35. Accelerate -- REM
36. Don't You Evah -- Spoon
37. Let It Die -- Foo Fighters
38. Lost Coastlines -- Okkervil River
39. Girls in Their Summer Clothes -- Bruce Springsteen
40. The '59 Sound -- Gaslight Anthem
41. Electric Feel -- MGMT
42. Breakdown -- Seether
43. It's Not My Time -- 3 Doors Down
44. We've Got Everything -- Modest Mouse
45. Always Where I Need to Be -- The ooks
46. Human -- The Killers
47. The Arm -- Islands
48. Two Ways Out -- Darker My Love
49. Red Star -- Third Eye Blind
50. Lucid Dreams -- Franz Ferdinand
51. The World, The People Together (Come On) -- The Dandy Warhols
52. Violet Hill -- Coldplay
53. Cath...-- Death Cab For Cutie
54. Constructive Summer -- The Hold Steady
55. In the New Year -- The Walkmen
56. Something Good This Way Comes -- Jakob Dylan
57. G.L.O.W. --Smashing Pumpkins
58. All I Want -- Staind
59. Pork & Beans -- Weezer
60. Dying is Fine -- Ra Ra Riot
61. Bad Blood -- Supergrass
62. Love Is Colder That Death -- The Virgins
63. Fort Hood -- Mike Doughty
64. Eye on You -- Edgar Winter
65. That Green Gentleman -- Panic At the Disco
66. One Month Off -- Bloc Party
67. Hit the Wall -- Brendan Canning
68. The Story of Benjamin Darling Pt 1 -- State Radio
69. Sequestered in Memphis -- The Hold Steady
70. Beautiful Beat -- Nada Surf
71. Oh No -- Andrew Bird
72. Abominable Snow -- Islands
73. Hammerhead -- The Offspring
74. House by the Sea -- Iron & Wine
75. I'm Not Over -- Carolina Liar
76. The Last Fight -- Velvet Revolver
77. Always a Friend -- Alejandro Escovedo
78. Better -- Guns 'n Roses
79. Pale Sun -- Darker My Love
80. How Far We've Come -- Matchbox 20
81. Right Hand on my Heart -- The Whigs
82. Calling and not Calling My Ex -- Okervil River
83. Dead Sound -- The Raveonettes
84. You're Gonna Go Far Kid -- The Offspring
85. Hard Sun -- Eddie Vedder
86. Skinny Love -- Bon Iver
87. Throwin' Shapes -- Minus the Bear
88. Confessor -- Annuals
89. Rich Girls -- Thje Virgins
90. I Get It -- Chevelle
91. Sometime Around Midnight -- Airborne Toxic Event
92. Your English Is Good -- Tokyo Police Club
93. Gotta Be Somebody -- Nickelback

HD2 Stations that stream

The move of Cincinatti's the Sound to HD-2 radio piqued my curiosity as to how many HD-2 stations are currently streaming in the Alternative or AAA format. Here's a list of the ones I have been able to find. I'm excluding syndicated formats like "xponential radio" or Clear Channel's "Radio Radio". If you know of any feel free to jump in.

WSTW-2 "Grafitti Radio" Wilmington DE
WOCL-2 "O-Rock" Orlando FL
WWWQ-2/W2BOBCTM "99x" Atlanta, GA
WUKY-2 Lexington KY
WBCN-2 "Indie 104.1" Boston, MA
WIYY-3 "Indie 97.1" Baltimore, MD
WRAL-2 Raleigh, NC
WXRK-2 "K-ROCK2" New York, NY
WSWD-2 'The Sound" Cincinatti, OH
WXPN-2 "Y-ROCK" Philadelphia, PA.
KNDE-2 "Rock Candy" Bryan, TX.

Black Friday

Another one bites the dust, another one bites the dust, another one bites the dust...

Memorial Day week 2009 was a disastrous one for the Alternative Rock format. First WMFS in Memphis goes down on Wednesday Then WSWD gets shoved into the HD2 ghetto. Worst of all, not content with killing WMFS, Entercom pulls the plug on KWOD in Sacramento

Let's see what the formatting geniuses came up with to replace these stations. WMFS is going to be simulcasting the stations' sportsradio feed. Because apparently the Memphis area is eager to hear drunken 50 year olds bitch about the local college basketball teams in high definition. WSWD is going to play feel good 80's music, because, according to the suits at Bonneville, nobody in Cincinatti has heard Billy Joel, Madonna or Prince in years (ummm somehow I doubt that)Sigh, at least they're keeping the website up. KWOD is moving to an all 90's format because we know what a raging success the all 80's formats have been.

It's all about the layoffs, if you ask me. If anyone's reading this, send the stations an e-mail and maybe they will relent. (It's happened before with CFNY)In the meantime, if you want to hear Franz Ferdinand, Muse or Silversun Pickups on the radio, start listening and if Arbitron calls you, make sure your voice gets heard.

KFMA Top 50 of 2008

KFMA is a modern rock station out of Tuscon, Arizona. Judging by their year end countdown, a rather loud one.

1. The Western World -- Pennywise
2. Love Me Dead -- Ludo
3. Inside the Fire -- Disturbed
4. Let It Die -- Foo Fighters
5. Hammerhead -- The Offspring
6. You're Gonna Go Far Kid -- The Offspring
7. Pork & Beans -- Weezer
8. Handlebars -- Flobots
9. Given Up -- Linkin Park
10. Troublemaker -- Weezer
11. Re-education (Through Labor) -- Rise Against
12. I Don't Care -- Apocalytica
13. Sometime Around Midnight -- Ariborne Toxic Event
14. Slow Burn -- Atreyu
15. Salute Your Solution -- The Raconteurs
16. Sex on Fire -- Kings of Leon
17. Psycho -- Puddle of Mudd
18. Rise Above This -- Seether
19. You -- Atmosphere
20. Love Hurts -- Incubus
21. Discipline -- Nine Inch Nails
22. Indestructible -- Disturbed
23. Stop! -- Against Me!
24. Bartender Song -- Rehab
25. Psychosocial -- Slipknot
26. Decode -- Paramore
27. I Will Possess Your Heart -- Death Cab for Cutie
28. Don't Stop -- Innerpartysystem
29. I'm Not Jesus -- Apocalytica
30. The Day That Never Comes -- Metallica
31. Human -- The Killers
32. They Say -- Scars on Broadway
33. Nine In the Afternoon -- Panic at the Disco
34. Viva La Vida -- Coldplay
35. Cath -- Death Cab for Cutie
36. I'm Not Over -- Carolina Liar
37. Lollipop -- Framing Hanley
38. Time to Pretend -- MGMT
39. Wild International -- One Day as a Lion
40. Feel Good Drag -- Anberlin
41. Ricochet -- Shiny Toy Guns
42. Do What You Do -- Mudvayne
43. Bad Girlfriend -- Theory of a Dead Man
44. A-Punk -- Vampire Weekend
45. Devour -- Shinedown
46. Sky Is Over -- Serj Tankanian
47. Help Me -- Alkaline Trio
48. Never Wanted to Dance -- Mindless Self Indulgence
48. Paper Planes -- M.I.A.
50. Believe -- Staind
49.

18.

WYMS Top 100 of 2008

Here's the countdown for America's most diverse AAA statio. Lots of local music in this countdown

1. Sex on Fire -- Kings of Leon
2. Paper Planes (DFA Remix) -- M.I.A.
3. Right as Rain -- Adele
4. Electric Feel -- MGMT
5. Streets on Fire -- Lupe Fiasco
6. Ragged Wood -- Fleet Foxes
7. I Will Possess Your Heart -- Death Cab For Cutie
8. Strange Overtones -- David Byrne & Brian Eno
9. You -- Atmosphere
10. 28 Butts -- Little Jackie
11. Crying -- TV on the Radio
12. House of Cards -- Radiohead
13. American Boy -- Estelle
14. Mercy -- Duffy
15. A-Punk -- Vampire Weekend
16. I'm Amazed -- My Morning Jacket
17. We're Here to Save the Day -- The Constellations feat. Asher Roth
18. Jailer -- Asha
19. Love Lockdown -- Kanye West
20. Cath -- Death Cab For Cutie
21. Viva La Vida -- Coldplay
22. Shut Up and Let Me Go -- The Ting Tings
23. Who's Gonna Save My Soul? -- Gnarles Barkley
24. You Are the Best Thing -- Ray LaMontagne
25. Orange Blossoms -- JJ Grey & Mofro
26. Say Hey (I Love You) -- Michael Franti & Spearhead
27. I'm Not Going to Teach Youe Boyfriend How to Dance With You -- The Black Kids
28. I Feel it All -- Feist
29. Fix It -- Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
30. Gamma Ray -- Beck
31. Black and Gold -- Sam Sparro
32. D.A.N.C.E. -- Justice
33. Kids -- MGMT
34. I Love You (More Than You Love Me) -- The Streets
35. Evil Urges -- My Morning Jacket
36. Good Time -- Brazilian Girls
37. L.E.S. Artistes -- Santogold
38. One Day -- Kings Go Forth
39. Lights Out -- Santogold
40. Puppets -- Atmosphere
41. Make You Crazy -- Brent Denned feat. Femi Kuti
42. North American Scum -- LCD Soundsystem
43. Nothing Ever Hurt Like You -- James Morrison
44. Bodysnatchers -- Radiohead
45. You're the One -- Kings Go Forth
46. Snow In California -- The Stills
47. Oceans & Streams -- The Black Keys
48. The Numbers Game -- Thievery Corporation feat. Chuck Brown
49. Peace Love & Happiness -- G.Love & Special Sauce
50. You Know What -- N.E.R.D.
51. Soldier -- Erykah Badu
52. Lemon King Mahoney -- Fever Marlene
53. Going On -- Gnarles Barkley
54. Slaute Your Solution -- The Raconteurs
55. 100 Yard Dash -- Raphael Saadiq
56. Sometime Around Midnight -- Airborne Toxic Event
57. Sequestered in Memphis -- The Hold Steady
58. The Foundation -- Rusty P's
59. American Gangster Time -- Elvis Costello & The Imposters
60. Little Bit -- Lykke Li
61. The Kids Don't Stand A Chance -- Vampire Weekend
62. Lost -- Coldplay feat. Jay Z
63. Two Silver Trees -- Calexico
64. Jigsaw Falling Into Place -- Radiohead
65. Rich Girls -- The Virgins
66. Unless It Kicks -- Okkervil River
67. Hope -- Jack Johnson
68. The Shock of the Lightining -- Oasis
69. Dance With Me -- The Lackloves
70. An Eluardian Instance -- Of Montreal
71. Boots of Chinese Plastic -- The Pretenders
72. As We Grow -- Valentina
73. If I -- Rashaad Ahmad
74. Lost -- Coldplay
75. Killing for Love -- Jose Gonzalez
76. Supernatural Superserious -- R.E.M.
77. Dance With Me -- Old 97's
78. Hallmark Stars (Take A Seat) -- The Lackloves
79. Violet Hill -- Coldplay
80. She Loves Everybody -- Chester French
81. Can't Say What I Mean -- Kaiser Chiefs
82. Fire -- Codebreaker feat. Cathy Diamond
83. Now I'm Gone -- Juliana Hatfield
84. Believe -- QTip feat. D'Angelo
85. Funplex -- The B52's
86. I Was Zapped by the Lucky Super Rainbow -- The Flaming Lips
87. This Lonely Love -- Juliana Hatfield
88. Boys With Girlfriends -- Meko
89. Thank You Too -- My Mornign Jacket
90. Orphans -- Beck
91. 27 Jennifers -- Mike Doughty
92. Radio Nowhere -- Bruce Springsteen
93. Sunshine Lies -- Matthew Sweet
94. The Fear -- Lily Allen
95. Say Aha -- Santogold
96. Have You Made Up Your Mind -- Paul Weller
97. Persistent -- 1956
98. Always A Friend -- Alexandro Escovedo
99. Creator -- Santogold
100. Sadie Hawkins -- Dessa

BTW -- the Milwaukee artists on the countdown are Kings Go Forth, Fever Malene, The Lackloves, Codebreaker, and 1956
73.

Herd Mentality

The Alternative or "Modern Rock" radio formats share quite a few songs. Sometimes however, the formats will diverge on what tracks from a particular artists are in heavy rotation. Ocassionally, I can't make head or tail as to why one song is being pushed by the alternative stations and antoher by the AAA stations. For example, I can see why alternative stations played the rocker "Salute Your Solution" while the AAA stations played the mellower "Old Enough" but why did alternative radio favor "Gamma Ray" at the same time AAA stations pushed "Orphans"? Even more inexplicably, why is "Grapevine Fires" a hit on modern rock, while the more uptempo 'No Sunlight" dominate on AAA?

Any ideas?

WYMS -- Breaking out of the White Ghetto

One problem I've always had with alternative rock radio, AAA and rock radio in general is the general lack of racial diversity, Aimed at an all white audience, using nearly all white artists. Yet magazines like Spin, websites like Trouser Press and Pitchfork, there's no shortage of coverage of alternative hip=hop acts or black rock bands that seldom if ever gets airplay even on the most highly regarded stations. Radio Milwaukee is one exception. Here's a sample hour:

99.9 F. Degrees -- Suzanne Vega
Love Is A Murder -- The Constellations feat. Cee Low
Hold My Life -- The Replacements
Ms. Jackson -- Outkast
Summertime Thing -- Chuck Prophet
1901 -- Phoenix
Butterflies -- Rakeem De Vaughn
Up All Night -- French Horn Rebellion
Why Can't We Be Friends -- War
The Rake's Song -- The Decembrists
Digging In the Dirt -- Peter Gabriel
Right as Rain -- Adele
God Part 2 -- U2

What if?

What would happen if debt considation services were outlawed tommorow? Would commerical radio dry up and die?

KSLG TOP 94 of 2008

KSLG -- A little station from Humboldt County California -- a haven from chain radio mediocrity -- put out their list of their Top 94 tracks. Stacks up pretty well, in my humble opinion

1. Time to Preten -- MGMT
2. Paper Planes -- M.I.A.
3. Pork & Beans -- Weezer
4. Salute Your Solution -- Raconteurs
5. Handlebars -- Flobots
6. Viva La Vida -- Coldplay
7. I Will Possess Your Heart -- Death Cab For Cutie
8. Sex On Fire -- Kings of Leon
9. Believe -- The Bravery
10. Gamma Ray -- Beck
11. Hammerhead -- The Offspring
12. Nine In the Afternoon -- Panic at the Disco
13. I'm Not Over -- Carolina Liar
14. Empty Walls -- Serj Tankanian
15. A-Punk -- Vampire Weekend
16. Discipline -- Nine Inch Nails
17. Bodysnatchers -- Radiohead
18. Paralyzer -- Finger 11
19. Big Casino -- Jimmy Eat World
20. Hard Sun -- Eddie Vedder
21. Wild International -- One Day as a Lion
22. Violet Hill -- Coldplay
23. Kids -- MGMT
24. Bleed It Out -- Linkin Park
25. Troublemaker -- Weezer
26. If I Had Eyes -- Jack Johnson
27. Don't You Evah -- Spoon
28. Supernatural Superserious -- R.E.M.
29. Shock of the Lightning -- Oasis
30. Well Thought Out Twinkles -- Silversun Pickups
31. Don't Bother Me -- The Blakes
32. Rich Girls -- The Virgins
33. Shut Up and Let Me Go -- The Ting Tings
34. They Say -- Scars on Broadway
35. L.E.S. Artistes -- Santogold
36. New Dark Ages -- Bad Religion
37. Shadowplay -- The Killers
38. Long Road to Ruin -- Foo Fighters
39. The Step and the Walk --The Duke Spirit
40. Jigsaw Falling Into Place -- Radiohead
41. The Western World -- Pennywise
42. You're Gonna Go Far Kid -- The Offspring
43. Dashes -- Doomtree Dots
44. Many Shades of Black -- The Raconteurs
45. Sometime Around Midnight -- Airborne Toxic Event
46. Waiting for the Sun -- Machete
47. Pot, Kettle, Black -- Tilly the Wall
48. Electric City -- Firewater
49. Electric Feel -- MGMT
50. You -- Atmosphere
51. Mother Mary -- Foxboro Hot Tubs
52. Going On -- Gnarles Barkley
53. Let It Die -- Foo Fighters
54. Ska -- Thirtythreeandthird
55. 2 a.m. -- Slightly Stoopid
56. Cath... -- Death Cab For Cutie
57. Something is Not Right with Me -- Cold War Kids
58. Decode -- Paramore
59. Use Somebody -- Kings of Leon
60. Rise -- Flobots
61. Lucid Dreams -- Franz Ferdinand
62. Smokers Outside the Hosptial Doors -- Editors
63. Always Where I Need to Be -- Kooks
64. Float -- Flogging Molly
65. Sound the Alarm -- Thievery Corporation
66. Strange Times -- Black Keys
67. Oxford Comma -- Vampire Weekend
68. Man-Sized Wreath -- R.E.M.
69. I Kissed A Girl -- Katy Perry
70. Re-education (Through Labor) -- Rise Against
71. Queen of the Nile -- Dragged by Horses
72. The Sound -- Human Highway
73. Crying -- TV on the Radio
74. Consoler of the Lonely -- The Raconteurs
75. Leave Out All the Rest -- Linkin Park
76. Ricochet -- Shiny Toy Guns
77. Run -- Gnarles Barkley
78. The Day that Never Comes -- Metallica
79. That Green Gentleman -- Panic at the Disco
80. Propane Nightmares -- Pendulum
81. Love Hurts -- Incubus
82. Tenderoni -- Chromeo
83. Human -- The Killers
84. One Day as a Lion -- One Day as a Lion
85. More Bad Times -- Presidents of the United States of America
86. 27 Jennifers -- Mike Doughty
87. Crushcrushcrush -- Paramore
88. Lake Michigan -- Rogue Wave
89. Sky Is Over -- Serj Tankanian
90. Weird Fishes Arpeggi -- Radiohead
91. Letters Home from the Garden of Stone -- Everlast
92. The Only One -- The Cure
93. I'm Now -- Mudhoney
94. Let's Dance to Joy Division -- The Wombats

Y-Rock on XPN (and presumably WXPN itself) needs your help

One reason I focus on commercial alternative stations is that I figure the public/college stations can take care of themselves. Apparently I'm wrong. I opened the Y-Rock webstream tonight to give it a listen and I got a message that due to a huge loss in their corporate funding, they were running a deficit, and were forced to dip into their reserves. While the announcer said they were in no danger of going under, they couldn't continue to run a deficit for another year.

So if you stumble onto my website and you have some spare cash, pledge some to one of the best stations in the nation.

The Best Radio Station I Can't Listen To

Where do you think you'll be most likely to find a local fairly cool radio station? Did I hear someone say college town? Good guess, but a wrong one. You go to an area where there's a lot of ski lifts and you're almost certain to be in luck. For example, southern Vermont's got WEQX, Vail's got KYSL, the Catskills have WDST. Probably the best of the bunch is an upstart in Bend, Oregon, of all places KRXF

The only problem, and from my perch on the end of the Great Lakes is a big one, there's no webstream! This is a taste of what I'm missing, one typical hour's worth:

Looking For A Kiss -- New York Dolls
I Walk the Line -- Johnny Cash
Steady As She Goes -- The Raconteurs
No Sleep Till Brooklyn -- The Beastie Boys
Hit -- The Sugarcubes
Bittersweet Symphony -- The Verve
Another Generation -- Fishbone
Jigsaw Falling Into Place -- Radiohead
Renegades of Funk -- Rage Against the Machine
Party Down -- Reel Big Fish
So Much to Say -- Dave Matthews Band
Long Road to Ruin -- Foo Fighters
The New Pollution -- Beck
I Turn My Camera On -- Spoon
Prophet -- Sublime

Only downside -- the program director seems to have a fondness for Black Sabbath/Ozzie Osborne. But how can you stay mad at a station that has John Coltrane in its list of artists?

Can KTNI survive?

Another of my favorite streaming stations, KTNI, or Indie 101.5 seems to be on life support right now. According to Wikipedia, its owner just emerged from bankruptcy. In the Winter Arbitrons, the station only beat out a Spanish language Christian Station and a Spanish Adult station. To make matters worse,its competitor KTNI "Channel 93.3" is almost certainly the Best Clear Channel station in the Modern Rock format. They do seem to break a lot of local artists and their website has a few touches that depart from the CC cookiecutter approach. If I lived there and it was the only alternative station in town, I'd probably listen.

Bit It's not. Indie 101.5 has all the qualities of a great alternative staion, except a good signal and strong ownership. Its program director John "Whip" Wilbur is certainly dedicated to putting out the best radio station her can.

Here's a side by side comparison, taking 10 songs playing at a random hour

Indie 101.5

Operation Spirit -- Live
TV Party -- Black Flag
Punk Rocker -- Teddy Bears feat. Iggy Pop
DLZ -- TV on the Radio
Lucretia, My Reflection -- Sisters of Mercy
I Like You So Much Better When I'm Naked -- Ida Maria
Missed the Boat -- Modest Mouse
A Choppy Yet Sincere... -- Riverboat Gamblers
Cut Your Hair -- Pavemnent
Electric Feel -- MGMT

Channel 93.3

Hammerhead -- The Offsping
Girlfriends -- Single File
Interstate Love Song -- Stone Temple Pilots
The Dirt Whisperer -- Rise Against
Clocks -- Coldplay
Otherside -- Red Hot Chili Peppers
Don't Stop -- Innerpartysystem
Drive -- Incubus
Crushcrushcrush -- Paramore
Far Benind --Candlebox

The absolute clincher on their website -- Indie 101.5 Presents -- Sonic Youth. KTNI -- accept no substitutes.

Battle for Columbus -- Can CD101 Defeat Clear Channel Again?

Let me come right out and say it -- WWCD is one of my 5 favorite radio stations in the nation, and a major reason I enjoy visiting my in-laws. i was therefore alarmed when I checked out the Arbitron winter ratings at Radio and Records.com and find it trailing its Clear Channel competitor. CD 101, as the station is branded, has already fought off a challenge from Clear Channel in the 90's. The ownership is in it for the long haul.

Let us make a side by side comparison from a random picking of 10 songs from each station at the same time.

Station A:
Alex Chilton --The Replacements
White Winter Hymnal -- Fleet Foxes
Daylight -- Matt & Kim
A Dustland Fairytale -- The Killers
Nothing to Worry About -- Peter, Bjorn & John
Float On -- Modest Mouse
So Far So Good -- Karate Coyote
No You Girls -- Franz Ferdinand
The Distance -- Cake
My Last Mistake -- Dan Auerbach

Station B:
Creep-Stone Temple Pilots
Ain't No Rest for the Wicked -- Cage the Elephant
Let It Die -- Foo Fighters
Down -- 311
I've Got Friends -- Manchester Orchestra
I Wish You Were Here -- Incubus
Give It Away -- Red Hot Chili Peppers
Lifeline -- Papa Roach
Outshined -- Soundgarden
Last One to Die -- Rancid

Station A is CD101. Station B is WRXS Radio 106.7. The second sample is fairly good by Clear Channel standards, and mostly listenable, but it reeks of generic. It could be a sample of any modern rock station in the country.

As for the sample of CD101, well all they had to do is play the Replacments and they convinced me. So if you're in the Columbus area support this unique station and find a way to finagle yourself an Arbitron diary. If you aren't, then check out their webstream.

KWOD TOP 106 of 2008

KWOD is a really cool Alternative Station out of Sacramento, CA. It is owned by Entercom. While Entercom is one of the largest radio station chains, they tend not to interfere with the local talent, and it shows. Tends to be a bit ahead of the curve. A lot of these songs are still part of hte current rotation of many stations



1. New Low -- MC Rut
2. Viva La Vida -- Coldplay
3. Pork and Beans -- Weezer
4. Let It Die -- Foo Fighters
5. Love Me Dead -- Ludo
6. You're Gonna Go Far Kid -- Offspring
7. I Will Possess Your Heart -- Death Cab For Cutie
8. Re-education (Through Labor) -- Rise Against
9. Sex On Fire -- Kings of Leon
10. Inside the Fire -- Disturbed
11. Human -- The Killers
12. Map of the Problematique -- Muse
13. If I Had Eyes -- Jack Johnson
14. Crushcrushcrush -- Paramore
15. Believe -- The Bravery
16. Psycho -- Puddle of Mudd
17. Far -- Pony
18. Shadow of the Day -- Linkin Park
19. I'm Not Over -- Carolina Liar
20. They Say -- Scars on Broadway
21. L.E.S. Artistes -- Santogold
22. Feel Good Drag -- Anberlin
23. I Don't Care -- Apocalyptica
24. Mother Mary -- Foxboro Hot Tubs
25. Paper Planes -- M.I.A.
26. Troublemaker -- Weezer
27 The Western World -- Pennywise
28. Violet Hill -- Coldplay
29. Handlebars -- Flobots
30. Falling Down -- Atreyu
31. Long Road to Ruin -- Foo Fighters
32. Time to Pretend -- MGMT
33. Hammerhead -- Offspring
34. Cath... -- Death Cab for Cutie
35. Shadowplay -- The Killers
36. So Long, Goodbye -- 10 Years
37. Decode -- Paramore
38. Sometime Around Midnight -- Airborne Toxic Event
39. Nine In the Afternoon -- Panic At the Disco
40. Given Up -- Linkin Park
41. I Kissed A Girl -- Katy Perry
42. Discipline -- Nine Inch Nails
43. A-Punk -- Vampire Weekend
44. Stop! -- Against Me
45. Lost ! -- Coldplay
46. Salute Your Solution -- The Raconteurs
47. Oh my God! -- Marc Ronson feat. Lily Allen
48. It's Not My Time -- 3 Doors Down
49. The Pretender -- Foo Fighters
50. Love Hurts -- Incubus
51. Propane Nightmares -- Pendulum
52. Shut Your Eyes -- Snow Patrol
53. Help Me -- Alkaline Trio
54. Ricochet -- Shiny Toy Guns
55. Don't You Evah -- Spoon
56. Die For You -- Pennywise
57. Always Where I Need to Be -- the Kooks
58. Beautiful -- 10 Years
59. An End Has A Start -- The Editors
60. Bartender Song -- Rehab
61. Believe -- Staind
62. Afterlife -- Avenged Sevenfold
63. Folsom Prison Blues -- Everlast
64. Supernatural Superserious -- R.E.M.
65. Wild International -- One Day as a Lion
66. Lake Michigan -- Rogue Wave
67. War Pigs -- Cake
68. Second Chance -- Shinedown
69. Shut Up and Let Me Go -- The Ting Tings
70. Hope -- Jack Johnson
71. That's What You Get -- Paramore
72. Undead -- Hollywood Undead
73. Funplex -- The B52's
74. Rise Above This -- Seether
75. Non Dairy Creamer -- Third Eye Blind
76. 2AM -- Slightly Stoopid
77. Hollywood Whore -- Papa Roach
78. Mixed Up S.O.B. -- Presidents of the United States of America
79. The Shock of the Lightning -- Oasis
80. Spaceman -- The Killers
81. Go Getter Greg -- Ludo
82. Does the Lion City Still Roar? --Less Than Jake
83. Ghost Town -- Shiny Toy Guns
84 . Everybody Get Dangerous -- Weezer
85. Do You Wanna -- The Kooks
86. Leave Out All the Rest -- Linkin Park
87. Hey -- Gillmor
88. Audience of One -- Rise Against
89. Kristy Are You Doing OK -- The Offspring
90. Show Me What I'm Looking For -- Carolina Liar
91. Requium for a Dying Song -- Flogging Molly
92. The Resolution -- Jack's Manequin
93. You -- Atmosphere
94. Kids -- MGMT
95. The Rat -- Dead Confederate
96. Letters Home from the Garden of Stone -- Everlast
97. The Day That Never Comes -- Metallica
98. Good Life -- Arden Park
99. My Turn -- Hoobastank
100. The Stone -- Ashes Divide
101. Roseville Bars -- Flobots
102. Dirt Room -- Blue October
103. Heart Songs -- Weezer
104. Right Hand on My Heart --The Whigs
105. The Blueprint -- Cawlzlos feat. MC Rut
106. The Great DJ -- The Ting Tings

Least Descriptive Song Title of 2008

Rock & Roll by Eric Hutchison

WXPK TOP 107 of 2008

As a regular feature, I'll be archiving year end countdowns from alternative rock and AAA stations in the US and Canada, especially focusing those that aren't archived on the station's website. First off is a AAA station based in White Plains, WXPK. I'll be writing more on this station, but for now here's last year's countdown

1. Viva La Vida -- Coldplay
2. Sex on Fire -- Kings of Leon
3. House of Cards -- Radiohead
4. Rock & Roll -- Eric Hutchison
5. I Will Possess Your Heart -- Death Cab For Cutie
6. You Are the Best Thing -- Ray La Montagne
7. Dream Catch Me -- Newton Faulkner
8. Shattered (Turn the Car Around) -- O.A.R.
9. Sequestered In Memphis -- The Hold Steady
10. Sometime Around Midnight -- Airborne Toxic Event
11. I'm Yours -- Jason Mraz
12. Human -- The Killers
13. Orphans -- Beck
14. Come On, Get Higher -- Matt Nathanson
15. Long Road to Ruin -- Foo Fighters
16. I'm Amazed -- My Morning Jacket
17. Take Back the City -- Snow Patrol
18. The Way I Am-- Ingrid Michaelson
19. Supernatural Superserious -- R.E.M.
20. If I Had Eyes -- Jack Johnson
21. Old Enough -- The Raconteurs
22. Come Around -- Counting Crows
23. Mercy -- Duffy
24. My Sweet Love -- John Mellancamp
25. Strange Overtones -- David Byrne & Brian Eno
26. Violet Hill -- Coldplay
27. Sweet and Low -- Augustana
28. Say Hey (I Love You) -- Michael Franti & Spearhead
29. U Want Me 2 -- Sarah McLachlan
30. Many Shades of Black -- The Raconteurs
31. Make You Crazy -- Brent Dennan
32. Freeway -- Aimee Mann
33. A-Punk -- Vampire Weekend
34. Peace Love & Happiness -- G.Love & Special Sauce
35. Time to Pretend -- MGMT
36. You Got Yr Cherry Bomb -- Spoon
37. You Can't Count on Me -- Counting Crows
38. Dirty City -- Steve Winwood
39. Lost! -- Coldplay
40. Cath... -- Death Cab For Cutie
41. The Pedestrian -- Foxboro Hot Tubs
42. Way Past Long -- Sonny Landreth
43. Pork and Beans -- Weezer
44. Life, Love & Laughter -- Donavon Frankenreiter
45. Boots of Chinese Plastic -- Pretenders
46. That's Entrainment -- Van Morrison
47. It's Alright -- Dar Williams
48. The Shock of the Lightning -- Oasis
49. Livin' In the Future -- Bruce Springsteen
50. Saving My Face -- KT Tunstall
51. Please Read the Letter -- Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
52. Believe -- Bravery
53. 7:26 -- Michael Nappi
54. Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution -- Black Crowes
55. Say -- John Mayer
56. Fix It -- Ryan Adams & the Cardinals
57. Scare Easy -- Mudcrutch
58. Busy Thinking 'Bout Today -- Phil Roy
59. Whole Thing -- Big Blue Ball
60. Habit Forming -- X Levitation Cult
61. Something Good This Way Comes -- Jakob Dylan
62. The News -- Carbon/Silicon
63. Little Favours -- KT Tunstall
64. Trashcan -- Delta Spirit
65. It'll All Come Around -- Back Door Slam
66. Funplex -- The B52s
67. Casey Fear -- Paddy
68. Duncan and Brady -- Bob Dylan
69. Always Where I Need to Be -- The Kooks
70. Lake Michigan -- Rogue Wave
71. Burn You Up, Burn You Down -- Big Blue Ball
72. All That I Know -- Collective Soul
73. Dance With Me -- Old 97's
74. I Thought About You -- The Beautiful Girls
75, Love Is Noise -- The Verve
76. The Weight of Her -- Butch Walker
77. Oxford Comma -- Vampire Weekend
78. No Hiding Place -- Elvis Costello
79. You Don't Understand Me -- The Racontuers
80. Invisible Man -- Joe Jackson
81. No Sunlight -- Death Cab For Cutie
82. Never Miss A Beat -- Kaiser Chiefs
83. No One's Gonna Love You -- Band of Horses
84. Grounds for Divorce -- Elbow
85. Busy Being Fabulous -- Eagles
86. 31 Today -- Aimee Mann
87. The Lovers Are Losing -- Keane
88. Mother Mary -- Foxboro Hot Tubs
89. Hope -- Jack Johnson
90. Testify -- Danielia Cotton
91. The Only One -- The Cure
92. Unsettle My Heart -- The Boat People
93. That's How People Grow Up -- Morrisey
94. On My Way -- Del Sol
95. Lover of the Bayou -- Mudcrutch
96. Underneath -- Alanis Morissette
97. All In My Head -- Shawn Mullins
98. Hollow Man -- R.E.M.
99. Listen -- Amos Lee
100. Thank You Too -- My Morning Jacket
101. Back Door Slam -- Back Door Slam
102. Gamma Ray -- Beck
103. Love Is Free -- Sheryll Crow
104. Until the Day Is Done -- R.E.M.
105. The Clockwise Witness -- Devotchka
106. Why Do Men Fight? -- Carbon/Silicon
107. Sweeter Than the Rest -- Joan Osborne

You know it's time to look for another station when...

Its website adds a link to a "Babe of the Day"

Alternative Rock Radio...Not Dead Yet

One of the pleasures of the internet age is being able to listen to radio stations from across North America. It reminds me of when I was a kid growing up with a transistor radio (yeah I'm THAT old) at night discovering that I could tune into stations from hundreds of miles away like WKBW from Buffalo, CKLW from Windsor, Ont and WLS from Chicago.

Then AM radio converted to a 24 hour talkathon and really awesome FM stations started to spring up playing adventurous groundbreaking music with programs hosted by knowlegable, hip announcers who cared about the music they played. The glory days of "free form radio". Then the consultants came in with their focus groups and tightened formats and the AOR format was born, later to be fossilized into classic rot radio.

Then just when we seemed about to drown in a sea of Toto, Styx and Journey, punk came in to shake things up and within a couple of years new stations arose to play adventurous music hosted by knowlegable, hip announcers who cared about music. KROQ, WLIR, CFNY, WHFS. Then the evil minions of Clear Channel came in with their focus groups and tightened formats. Woman listeners were written off and "modern rock" radio was born, later to devolve to the 24 hour soundtrack for fratboys: "active rock radio".

But despite deregulation, the ubiquity of chain ownership, the competition of mp3 players and satellite radio, some cool commercial stations managed to survive and thrive. Some label themselves alternative stations and others AAA (another format the evil minions of Clear Channel have tried to turn nto mindless pablum) but they have one thing in common a dedication to expose innovative artists such as Vampire Weekend, Radiohead, TV on the Radio, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Santogold, Flaming Lips and Franz Ferdinand to the general public.

Good commercial stations are still out there. Most are streaming audio worldwide. The mission of this blog is to expose them and give them some support. While I love the WXPNs WFUVs WTMDs and WMVYs of this world they have their limitations (after a couple of hours I get a hankering for some Tool or System of A Down or Rage Against the Machine) While I love the unpredictability of college radio, the attitude and elitism you sometimes get there is grating. We need stations like -- first radio station endorsement coming up -- WWCD in Columbus Ohio, currently fighting the good fight against a homogonized Clear Channel station even as we speak.
So for CD101 -- and other stations like this, this blog's for you.